Under the Leaves of the Goshinboku
by horseygurl89
Summary: Mrs. Higurashi is watching her daughter and Inuyasha. She is struck by how quickly time has passed and how life marches on. She shares her relevations with someone that is very dear to her. Who?


**Under the Leaves of the Goshinboku**

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**AN: **Hey everybody! This story was not on my list of stories to work on, but I was creating a CD of Father/Daughter songs for my boss who's wife is getting ready to have a little girl in November and I thought this would be a great song for Inuyasha! The song is "I Loved Her First" by Heartland.

**Disclaimer:** I not and never will own Inuyasha! There I said it, now I think I will go in a corner and cry. Also I do not own Heartland and make no profit from their songs, wish I did cause I'd be rich!

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Mrs. Higurashi smiled to herself listening to the cheerful sounds coming in through the open kitchen window from the courtyard of the Goshinboku. It was a fine spring evening and for the first time in 500 years the Goshinboku was blooming. It turned out that it was thanks to Kagome for freeing Inuyasha from the towering tree that led to this phenomenon. So the window was thrown open in order to catch the heavenly scent of the tiny white blossoms that covered the tree.

Mrs. Higurashi paused in her scrubbing to glance out said window to take in what had caused the merriment. In the fading afternoon light her daughter stood, dressed in a fine blue silk kimono that was scattered with pale blue and white flowers, ironically similar to the Goshinboku blossoms. It was tied with a white and red obi and fitted Kagome beautifully. Her smile widened just a bit as she took in her daughter's companion. Inuyasha, the inu hanyou that Kagome had befriended over a year ago, was leaning against the trunk of the sacred tree, a dashing figure clad completely in red of his fire-rat robes and shinning silver hair, was watching Kagome with barely concealed amusement.

Kagome began spinning in gentle circles staring up at the tree, dancing in the gentle shower of white blossoms that filled the air around her and covered the ground like fragrant snow. Kagome giggled suddenly and raised her arms above her head, for once completely care free. Faster and faster she twirled, a whirling dervish of blue silk, till she stumbled in her dizziness. Like a blur of red lightning Inuyasha was there. Catching her flailing hands and pulling her against his chest. Kagome still giggling, her face flushed with excitement stared up into her protector's face, with unfiltered contentment. It was such a perfect scene; something straight off a postcard, that Mrs. Higurashi wished for a brief moment that she had her camera handy. But the next second she dismissed the idea, knowing that even the best camera could not capture this moment so completely.

Time seems to stand still, as the two teenagers from two completely different eras, from two completely different walks of life, gazed into each other's eyes. Finally the moment is broken by Inuyasha, who reaches up and tucks a lock of hair back behind Kagome's ear. Kagome's beaming smile, gentles into one of compassion and love that she only wears for Inuyasha.

"Carefull wench, you're gonna fall and hurt yourself, with all that silly spinning." Inuyasha gruffly tells her.

"No I won't." Kagome responds instantly, "Cause you'll always be there to catch me."

Even from where she stood in the kitchen, Mrs. Higurashi could hear the catch of breath from the hanyou, as he struggles to reply. Finally he wraps his arms around her daughter, and buries his face into her hair. Mrs. Higurashi can't hear his reply, but she knows what it is. 'Always.' Still watching silently from the window, Mr. Higurashi watches as Kagome pulls away from Inuyasha just enough to peer up into his face.

"Dance with me?" she asks him, quietly.

Again Inuyasha doesn't reply, but pulls Kagome back to his chest, where she rests her head against his shoulder and his arms tighten around her. Slowly they begin to sway to some unheard music, softly moving together. The evening light casts the courtyard with a light orange glow, highlighting the silver of Inuyasha's hair and the dark tresses of Kagome's. The blooms shift and whisper soothingly across the ground as the dancing couple makes their way around the yard.

Mrs. Higurashi just stares at them, tears forming in her eyes. Quietly she speaks, but it is to no one that is living.

"Oh, Katashi," she murmurs, "Can you see them now? How much your daughter has grown? She is now a fine young woman, more than we could have hoped for. She has done so much this past year and now I know the time will come soon that she will leave."

_Look at the two of you dancing that way  
Lost in the moment and each other's face  
So much in love you're alone in this place  
Like there's nobody else in the world  
I was enough for her not long ago  
I was her number one  
She told me so  
And she still means the world to me  
Just so you know  
So be careful when you hold my girl  
Time changes everything  
Life must go on  
And I'm not gonna stand in your way_

Mrs. Higurashi reminds herself through her tears that Kagome's heart doesn't belong here anymore. She knows that she will have to let her go, and she knows it is the right thing to do; it's still hard to give her daughter away. Deep down knowing that once she does, the well will seal and she will never see her daughter again.

_But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first_

"Inuyasha is a good man, Katashi. He loves her dearly, even if he had trouble showing it at first. He will do right by her, provide for her and protect her as long as he draws breath. Of this, I am certain. But still, she's our little girl. We will always have a part of her heart but now our part is not as big as is used to be."

_How could that beautiful woman with you  
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew  
The one that I read all those fairy tales to  
And tucked into bed all those nights  
And I knew the first time I saw you with her  
It was only a matter of time_

"Our daughter is amazing. She has seen and done things that I can only dream of. It seemed like all those shrine stories we used to tell her came true. Father seems to think that Kagome was the miko in the stories and that Inuyasha and their friends were the monk, the slayer, the kitsune, and the hanyou in the tales of old. Who knows? Maybe they are, or will be, depending on how you look at it."

She sighs deeply, "Oh, Katashi. I just knew it. The first time I met Inuyasha he was crude, brash, insulting, demanding. Everything that a mother would not want her daughter to get involved with. But I saw it, when she turned away from him to get her things, the way that he stared at her. It was full of wonder and awe, with the cautious beginnings of love. Oh I knew then that it would come. Despite the fights and the denials, the seed had been planted and when it eventually flowered it was all the more beautiful and sturdy because of their struggles. But it is pure, as pure as love can be I'd wager."

_But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first_

Drying her tears on her sleeve, Mrs. Higurashi wipes away all evidence of her joyful sorrow and contents herself with the knowledge that her child is happy and loved, and that as a mother is the most that she can do. She watches them, as they drift to a stop, blue colliding with red, black mingling with silver to create a wonderful whole soul under the leaves of the Goshinboku.

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**AN2:** Ok, there ya have it folks! Let me know what ya think! Just in case anybody is confused Mrs. Higurashi is talking to her husband. They never say what happened to him in either the manga or the anime so I am assuming he's dead. As far as the name goes, I just liked it. It means "firmness". If you all are looking for Japanese names, since I know that it is hard to come up with them on your own I went too **www . 20000-names . com / male_japanese_names . htm** (just remove the spaces!)

**AN3:** If anyone is curious as to what Kagome's kimono looks like go to **www . alientimes . org / pmwiki / images / photos / kimono1 . jpg**. I will also post a direct link on my profile page.


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